The village of Hartley is recorded as
Erclei in the
Domesday Book of 1086, with a population of 15 families and 3 slaves. The name Hartley means "place in the wood where the deer are". The parish church of All Saints dates from the early 12th century, although it probably replaced an earlier
Anglo-Saxon building. On 28 January 1554, during
Wyatt's Rebellion against Queen
Mary, a rebel force of about 500 men led by
Henry Isley clashed with a similar-sized loyal force led by
Lord Abergavenny and
Sir Robert Southwell, at
Wrotham Hill. After a running battle over about four miles, the rebels made their last stand at Hartley Wood, where they were defeated. By 1872, there were 47 houses in Hartley with a population of 244. Some local farms specialised in
hop growing. A
National School was built in the village in 1841; it was rebuilt in 1960 on a new site. The opening nearby of
Longfield railway station in 1872 began the evolution of the village from an agricultural to a commuter community. Just before
World War I, two agricultural estates were purchased by a property developer and sold off in small plots for new houses and bungalows. In 1944 Government plans for a major London overspill town based on Hartley/Longfield/Meopham were developed, which ultimately came to nothing. However major housing developments at
New Ash Green in the 1960s and Wellfield in the 1970s continued the trend. The parish was part of
Axstane Hundred and later
Dartford Rural District until 1974, when it joined the new
Sevenoaks District. Since 2024, it has been part of the parliamentary constituency of
Tonbridge. ==Places of worship==